How I Really Feel

That's what people say following a good rant, right? "Tell us how you really feel." So I shall. I figure if you've stuck around this long, then you care about what I have to say. If not, well then, go back to your "bubble".

The bubble. What a perfect place to start.
I'm not going to give you my same old "we've got plenty of aid here for anything from food to healthcare, why knock sending aid to impoverished children of other countries" rant. Why? Because people a.) don't listen b.) don't care c.) who do care are sick to death of hearing it. So let us move on.

This picture was taken on a mountain top in the middle of a rainforest, a 30 minute hike from a river that was a two hour boat ride from a 6 hour car ride from anything resembling civilization. This lady was kind enough to let us snap a picture of her home and her children, probably only because she knew we held a drug that could potentially save her child's life. Actually, that's not true. She probably only knew we wanted to help.
She lives in a dirt floor "house" with a thatched roof and cracks in the wall big enough to stick my arm through. Her kids run barefoot, in the same clothes as yesterday, through the jungle - alone - to school. Yes, the jungle that is filled with poisonous snakes and other large predators I refuse to let myself think about. She spends her days trying to put enough food in their mouths.
This is the interior of the "house". You see the pile of corn she's shucking and grinding into maize. The hammock one of them sleeps in. A makeshift bed in the right corner. What you don't see is another bed, made of pallets, to keep them up off of the ground, as to stay dry.
And this is home. And it is normal for rural Guatemala. Countless people live this way.

Taken from Citydata.com:
For Lamar County in 2009-

Estimated median household income - $38,205
Estimated median house value in 2009 - $82,315

According to Century 21 in Lamar County, $82,000 will get you a really nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath, brick home.

A far cry from living on $2.00 per day.

We are absolutely blessed to live in this country. Why is that so difficult to see? When extreme poverty is a short 2 hour plane ride away.